Under the Mistletoe: D&Hr Holiday Ficlets
by icicle33
Summary: This is a series of Draco/Hermione holiday drabbles that is being written for dramionedrabble Christmas challenge. They will each be stand alone fics. New fic: Draco is introduced to The Nightmare Before Christmas. Full summary inside.
1. Drabble 1: Christmas with the Weasleys

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HP or any part of the HP fandom. I just enjoy torturing Draco in various scenarios.

**Warnings:** None except for silliness

**Summary: ** Hermione insists that Draco accompanies her to the Weasley house for Christmas. He receives a stunning addition to his wardrobe.

**Author's Note:** This little drabble/ficlet was written for the dramionedrabble Christmas challenge. The **prompt** was **tacky holiday jumpers**. This is the first part of a series of independent Draco/Hermione Christmas drabbles that I will update frequently.

Comments make my day and keep me writing.

Enjoy.

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><p><em><strong>A Weasley Family Christmas<strong>_

**: : :**

"Hermione, Hermione—are you ready to go?" Draco asked running a hand through his hair and looking at himself in the mirror once again. Hermione angled her head slightly in order to get a better look, but she tried to be as quiet as possible. She didn't want Draco to notice her spying from the top of the stairs.

When she didn't respond, he called for her again. "I don't want to be late. It's not polite. And—"

Hermione finally made her way down the stairs and smiled at her boyfriend who was still primping in front of the mirror.

"Oh, Draco," she said with a smile, "stop worrying so much. It's only the Weasleys. They aren't going to bite."

"Right."

Draco still looked uneasy and continued fussing with the collar of his button down shirt. As usual his outfit was impeccable. He was wearing black trousers and a fitted silver shirt that Hermione noticed shimmered in the light. His blond hair was only partially slicked back and a few loose strands adorned his long, handsome face. She loved when he wore his hair like that. It was such an improvement to the helmet head style he used to sport back at Hogwarts. Now, he looked completely edible.

"Maybe I should change. Does this silver shirt wash me out?"

"Draco—"

"Maybe it's too bright. What if all the masses of ginger are reflected in my shirt?" He shuddered briefly and ignored Hermione's pointed glare. She decided to let that comment slide since he was obviously a nervous wreck.

"That would be awful," he continued. "Perhaps a green shirt would be better. That's festive, right?"

Hermione sighed and put her arms around Draco's slim waist. "Shhh-"

She turned him around and kissed him softly, her eyes full of adoration for this gorgeous but completely mental man.

"Everything is going to be fine. Remember—Mrs Weasley even came and invited you in person."

"I know," Draco said averting his eyes to the floor. "It's just…why do we have to go? Let's stay here...just the two of us. I'll make it worth your while." He pulled her closer and started nibbling on her neck.

Hermione moaned softly at Draco's kisses, but quickly pushed him away. They couldn't afford to get distracted right now.

"Stop that, love," she insisted. "I've told you this before. The Weasleys are like my family, especially now that I no longer have my parents." She tried her best to keep a wistful look off her face, but even if she had to guilt Draco into going she was going to get her way.

"But—"

"No excuses, Draco. We're going to spend New Year's with your mother and Andromeda, so it's only fair we spend Christmas with my family."

Draco ran a hand through his hair again and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Fine," he said as he bowed his head in defeat. "Just let me change."

Hermione chuckled at him and tugged his arm towards the fireplace.

"You look fine, love. And you don't need to change because…"

Draco raised his eyebrows at her. "Because why?"

"Never mind," she said innocently. "Let's just go. We don't want to be late."

**: : :**

Draco was completely overwhelmed by the sea of endless redheads that surrounded him. Apparently, the Weasley clan was still expanding. He tried his best to force a pleasant expression on his face rather than his usual scowl. It was just rather intimidating being in such a small space with so many people. Of course, he had visited the Burrow before, but he'd never seen so many people crammed into the living room. It made him want to run and hide in the loo for the rest of the party, but he couldn't do that; he knew he had to make a good impression for Hermione. After all, he had promised her. And he needed to find the Weasley matriarch to thank her for her generous hospitality, so he sent Hermione off to go entertain Potter and his herd of adoring brats.

When he spotted a large red blur of a woman dressed in a lime green hand knit jumper, he gulped deeply. The jumper was embroidered with a fuchsia, glittery Christmas tree and reindeer. There was so much glitter and clashing colours that it hurt his eyes just to look at it.

_I can do this. Just be charming._ He plastered what he hoped wasn't a noticeably fake smile on his face and headed towards Mrs Weasley.

"Thank you so much for having us, Mrs Weasley," he said, politely. He grabbed the older woman's hand and kissed it briefly. "You are looking so lovely today, in that festive jumper. Did you do something new to your hair?"

Obviously, Draco was lying through his teeth; he found the Weasley jumpers to be hideous and incredibly tacky, especially this year where the common theme seemed to be bright colours and glitter. Still, Draco was a Malfoy and Malfoys always behaved properly when invited to other people's homes. A proper guest should always compliment his hostess.

Mrs Weasley blushed and kissed him on the cheek.

"Aren't you such a charmer? And so handsome too," she said still blushing. "I'm glad you like the jumper, dear. They are a family tradition, and I made it myself."

"Well, you a very talented," Draco replied with a flirtatious smile. He was laying it on a bit thick, but he really needed to impress this woman for Hermione's sake. As his mother always told him: "_Flattery will get you everywhere, especially with women."_

Mrs Weasley beamed at him and grabbed him by the arm. Her long fushia nails were digging into his wrist.

"Come on," she said as she pulled him towards the giant Weasley Christmas tree that was also covered in shades of fuchsia, lime green, orange, and red_. Where the hell did this woman get her colour schemes? Colour schemes are supposed to complement each other not clash horribly and induce seizures._ It looked like a cracked out Christmas elf had thrown up on her tree.

"You have no idea how happy that makes me," she said as she reached under the tree fumbling through the stack of presents.

Draco tried his best to smile at her again even though she was mutilating his wrist. _What is she going to do me?_

She finally released his wrist and passed him a brightly wrapped package in tones of clashing red, green, and orange. "Here you go, dear. It's not much, but I think you're going to like it."

Even if the wrapping was ghastly, Draco couldn't help but feel touched. It was very kind of this woman to get him a Christmas present. He'd only met her a handful of times previously, and granted the obvious fact the he didn't share a particularly pleasant past with the rest of her family, it made the gesture even more meaningful. He smiled at her again, this time one of his real but rare, dazzling smiles.

"That's too kind of you, Mrs Weasley," he said as he unwrapped the gift. He wasn't sure what to expect, but it most certainly wasn't this. Inside the messy paper was a bright orange Weasley jumper that was adorned with a dark green and glittery DM in the centre.

Draco's eyes opened wide, and he bit his bottom lip. The jumper was so bright that it hurt his eyes. He blinked furiously at Mrs Weasley and opened his mouth slowly.

"This was completely unnecessary," he said in what he hoped was a kind voice.

"Do you love it?" The older woman asked while beaming at him; her blue eyes were twinkling and her smile reached all the way up to the slight crow's feet that were forming on the side of her face.

"Hermione told me how much you love glitter. And now you're part of this family too, so I figured it would be perfect."

Draco pulled the red headed woman into a tight embrace and scanned the room for his evil girlfriend. Of course, Hermione had helped Mrs Weasley design that fashion atrocity. Hermione was going to pay for this and dearly. No wonder she was making herself scarce. He gulped as he released Mrs Weasley; he needed to say something about the jumper and soon.

"It's one of kind," he said trying his best to smile and not shy away from the puke inducing garment.

"Well, put it on then. Ron and the other boys are already wearing theirs." Mrs Weasley pushed the jumper towards him. "It will look perfect over that lovely silver shirt you're wearing."

Draco gulped. Oh yes, Hermione was going to die a horrible and painful death for this.

**~Fin**

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><p><strong>Author's note: <strong>That's it for the first holiday drabble. I'll be posting more drabbles as I post them for dramionedrabble. However, if anyone has any requests on holiday Dramione prompts/situation let me know and I'd be happy to write them.

Thank you for reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers.

**~Icicle**


	2. Draco's Nightmare Before Christmas

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or The Nightmare Before Christmas. This story was written only for enjoyment purposes.

**Title:** Draco's Nightmare Before Christmas

**Rating:** R (brief sexual content)

**Warnings**: implied threesome, very slight angst, and general holiday fluff

**Summary:** Draco decides to give Hermione and his children the best Christmas ever, especially once he overhears that Hermione's favourite Christmas story is _The Nightmare Before Christmas_. Slytherin plotting ensues.

**Author's Note**: This silly holiday story was written for a dear reader, Loree, who requested a Dramione holiday fic with Draco discovering _The Nightmare Before Christmas_. I hope you enjoy it, love, and that everyone else does as well.

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><p><p>

_**Draco's Nightmare Before Christmas**_

_Christmas time is buzzing in my skull_  
><em>Will it let me be? I cannot tell<em>  
><em>There are so many things I cannot grasp<em>  
><em>When I think I've got it, and then at last<em>  
><em>Through my bony fingers it does slip<em>  
><em>Like a snowflake in a fiery grip<em>

_**~The Nightmare Before Christmas**_

**: : :**

Draco had been happily married to Hermione for several years now. They lived in a charming, Georgian style house in a posh but family friendly neighbourhood, right on the outskirts of wizarding London. He held a wonderful job, running his own mail order Potions' business, and had two very lovely children, Scorpius and Cassiopeia. Overall, Draco couldn't complain. His life was as near perfect as possible, especially because for so many years after the war, he assumed that a life like his, a normal but fucking fantastic life, could never be possible for an ex-Death Eater like himself.

Yet, once he reconnected with his wife, his life had been turned upside down in the best possible way. It had taken a long time for him to admit his feelings for her, but once he did, there was no turning back. After he kissed Hermione for the first time, he knew he was fucked, knew he was in it forever no matter what. It was almost ten years exactly from that first kiss, and Draco didn't have a single regret. They had been the best years of his life. All he wanted in life now was to make his wife and children happy, and to give them the perfect childhood he certainly never had. Yes, as he was entering the holiday season once again, he had no complaints at all, other than the fact that his beautiful wife had been quite stressed lately. She had been working extra long hours and was constantly running around in a frazzled state.

Although Hermione had bore two stunning children, Draco knew that his wife had always been passionate about her career. Yes, being a mother was important to her, but so was excelling at her job and attempting to save the world one hopeless cause at a time. Some women, like that dreaded Weasley bint, who Draco did not care for in the least, faulted her for it. Those women claimed that Hermione's _poor_ children were growing up with only a part-time mother, but Draco did not believe that rubbish; he knew that Hermione was an amazing mother and a role model for her children. In fact, one of the reasons he fell in love with her in the first place was because of her fervent and overzealous passion for everything she did. He would never want to change that about her, particularly because his mother was not only available to babysit, but was also quite taken with her grandchildren.

Regrettably, when Draco had been growing up, Lucius had not allowed his mother to have an overly active role in raising him; however, now that Lucius was no longer around, Draco was thrilled to have his mother act as the doting grandmother. He wasn't even jealous that she was acting as the mother she never had been to him...towards his children. At one time, Draco had been a selfish, spoiled brat, but the war had changed him, matured him. Now, he was a grown man, the head of the Malfoy family, and it was more important to place the needs of his family before his own; he would never make the same mistakes that his egotistical father had made. Besides, he knew that taking care of the children helped his mother cope with the loss of her husband, and more importantly, he knew that it was good for the children. Scorpius and Cassie adored their grandmother, and he would never do anything to stand in the way of his children's happiness.

Yes, now that it was the holiday season, Draco would make sure that his children would get everything they wanted and his beautiful wife too. He would do anything for them.

Anything at all.

**: : :**

While Draco had been growing up, the Christmas holidays had never been a big occasion; mostly, they were filled with his mother's obnoxiously long and boring Christmas parties that he was forced to attend. As a young boy, he had looked forward to Christmas morning because it had meant an overwhelming amount of presents, but as he grew older and started disappointing Lucius more frequently, the presents came less often; after a while, they stopped completely. Everyone believed that Draco was a spoiled child who got everything he ever wanted and bullied his parents easily. Well, spoiled he might have been, but the bullying his parents into buying him everything was a complete act. Honestly, it was ridiculous that anyone had ever believed that lie in the first place. Did Lucius Malfoy really look like the kind of man that would allow anyone to bully him? His disappointment of a son most definitely did not have his ear. Lucius Malfoy never did anything he didn't want to do, and he particularly never listened to the wishes or concerns of his only son.

Contrary to what everyone believed, including his own wife, Draco had never bought his way onto the Slytherin Quidditch team in his second year. Only after he had secured the position as Seeker, on his bloody own merit, did Lucius purchase the expensive racing brooms for the entire team. Lucius Malfoy only believed in rewarding achievements, never failures, which is why after awhile, the presents and his father's approval ceased altogether. Draco's adolescence had been full of failures and haunted memories; there was no changing the past, but at least he could control his future and his family's future as well.

He knew that his fucked up childhood was why he overcompensated as a father and a husband, but it didn't matter. Even if his children were a bit spoiled and he gave into his wife's demands too easily, he wouldn't change a thing about his life or choices. Marrying Hermione and starting a family was the one thing he had done right—the one thing he had done to restore honour to the Malfoy name; therefore, he could never stop showing his appreciation to his adoring family—regardless, if the rest of the world thought he was a push-over or not.

When Scoripus had first been born, Draco decided that first and foremost he would be a good father to his son and a good husband to his wife. The family estate and wizarding politics could go fuck themselves. Starting with him, the Malfoy family was done with all that nonsense; he even sold the manor. It was the best decision he had ever made, and he didn't regret it in the least.

Yes, his darling wife and children were his entire world and the reason why he was planning to give them the best Christmas ever.

Blimey, were they going to be surprised!

**: : :**

_**2 days earlier...**_

Draco had gotten home from work early and was surprised when he heard Hermione in the kitchen. She wasn't due home for at least another four hours, which was strange because Hermione never came home early; something had to be wrong. All of a sudden, he had a sick feeling in his stomach as he approached the kitchen, and it only got worse as he heard her voice. Hermione was talking with her mother on that Muggle wireless contraption that he _still_ didn't understand, and she sounded noticeably upset.

Apparently, she hadn't heard him come home, and while he knew that it was wrong to eavesdrop—well, Slytherin habits died hard. He hid behind the coat rack in the hallway and listened closely, feeling like a fifth year again trying to listen in on the DA meetings that he hadn't been invited to.

"Oh Mum," Hermione said. "It's just so hard...sometimes." She sounded as if she was attempting to choke back tears, her voice hitching. Draco had to refrain himself from running in there and taking her in his arms.

"I love being a mother so much," she continued, "and my job is amazing. It's what I've always wanted to do." She sighed loudly and Draco was positive that she was tightly wrapping one of her long curls around her left index finger, as she always did when she was upset.

"Mum, I'm just so afraid that sometimes I fail at both. You know, being a mother and my job. And—" Her voice was breaking now.

"Uh-huh...uh-huh...uh-huh. That is definitely true, Mum. Narcissa is a fantastic help with the children and they adore her. And of course, they adore Draco too. He's a wonderful father..._Still_, sometimes it's so hard even with him."

She sighed again, more heavily this time. "I adore him. I really do, but he just doesn't understand. He's so nonchalant about the holidays, Mum...just because they don't mean anything to him." She was sniffling now, and Draco was frozen to the spot. "But...oh, Mum...they mean _everything_ to me. I miss those holidays when I was a little girl, and we would read 'The Night Before Christmas' and sing Christmas Carols by the fire."

Her voice was so wistful now that it was breaking Draco's heart just listening to it.

"Mum... now that they are old enough, I want Cassie and Scorp to have those memories too...but I'm just _so_ busy and tired this year. We're making big strides with promoting house-elf rights overseas now, but it just leaves me no time to prepare for Christmas. And Draco is no _help at all_. He just said Narcissa would take care of it."

She paused for a second. "I know, I know, Mum. Of course, I still love him and you're right every marriage has its ups and downs...but we just come from different worlds. And—now that Narcissa is practically raising the children, I'm afraid that I'm going to become an outsider in my own home...Uh-huh...uh-huh. I know Mum. I'm trying to be patient, but you know what he's like sometimes. He just doesn't understand." She paused again, longer this time, and Draco held his breath throughout the silence.

"I-I just sometimes wonder if my life would have been easier if I married someone more like me...Mum...like us."

**: : :**

This was too much for Draco to hear. He couldn't listen to another word, so he quietly moved out of the hallway and creeped out the door. He just slumped himself on the pavement in front of their house and ran his hands through his hair, for once not caring that he was mussing it up. Gods, how could he have been so wrong? He had thought that his life was perfect—that he gave his wife the world and that she adored him.

Apparently not.

While Hermione had been making him the happiest bloke in the world, Draco had been failing miserably as a husband and father. He had already made sure that Cassie and Scorpius had everything they asked for on their Christmas lists, except for that pony that Cassie had asked for, but he hadn't considered passing down any holiday traditions to them. He didn't know anything about holiday traditions; his only positive holiday memories involved presents, so that's what he was passing down to his children. Hell, what kind of a parent tried to buy his children's affections?

And without even realising it, he done the same with his wife.

He had purchased Hermione a beautiful diamond necklace, but he should have known better. His wife was not impressed with material possessions; he had been insensitive to her love of the holidays and how she might want to share her traditions with their children.

Yes, he fucked up again. He needed to fix this, but he didn't know anything aboutMuggle Christmas traditions. The only person he really knew with a Muggle background, other than his wife, was Potter. And there was no way he was going to admit to Potter that he was making Hermione unhappy. Potter would probably kill him, and worse yet, he would probably relay the message to the Weasel, who would try once again to win back Hermione unsuccessfully.

No, he would just have to settle for the next best thing and go see Blaise.

**: : :**

When Draco Apparated right into his best mate's living room, Blaise was not expecting him. It was the middle of the afternoon, but Draco knew that Blaise would be home since he was more of a wizard of leisure and didn't hold a permanent job. However, Draco should have fire-called him first because Blaise was a little preoccupied when Draco showed up unexpectedly. Blaise was sprawled out on his white leather couch, a glass of aged scotch in his left hand, while bothParvati and Padma Patil were entertaining him to put it lightly, both sisters barely clad in matching sexy Santa lingerie if you could even call it that. Unfortunately for him, Draco got more of a show than he had bargained for and saw a lot more of his friend's large black cock than he had ever wanted.

"Oh, Sweet Merlin," Draco cried as he walked into Blaise's living room. "I am so sorry," he continued, averting his eyes to the floor and trying to hide behind his long fringe. "I should have called. I'll...erm...just show myself out."

But right when Draco was about to walk out the door, Blaise quickly got up from the couch and locked the front door. Before Draco could get away, Blaise grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Hey mate," Blaise said, squeezing Draco's shoulder tightly. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

Draco knew that his cheeks were red and he could barely meet his friend's eyes. "I-I…you're busy, Blaise. I should go."

Blaise let go of Draco's shoulder and ran a hand through his long dreads, his newly acquired hairstyle that Draco had teased him about mercilessly, but obviously Draco had been wrong because it seemed to be working quite well with the ladies.

"Dray," he said slowly, not seeming to care that he was clad only in his tight green pants that were half unbuttoned. "Come back inside. I can tell something's wrong. I have a bottle of your favourite firewhisky with your name on it."

Draco sighed and regarded his friend closely. Blaise was such a hot mess, but also the best mate a bloke could ask for.

"But what about your girls?" Draco asked, raising one eyebrow and smirking at his friend. "Surely, you had a better afternoon planned than sitting around counselling me. Again."

Blaise smiled at Draco and smacked him on the back.

"Nah. The twins have to get back to work anyway. And they'll be back tonight," he said, leering at his friend. "Don't _you worry_. Besides, it'll make me look good if I say I was counselling my oldest and dearest friend all afternoon. You know I have such a big heart and all." He raised his eyebrows suggestively at Draco, and Draco couldn't help but laugh. Yes, even with all of Blaise's idiosyncrasies, he was like a brother to Draco; Draco could never survive without him.

"Alright then, Blaise. I wouldn't say no to a drink right now, but please put on some trousers first."

**: : :**

At first, Draco had been somewhat reluctant to share his problems with Blaise. It was embarrassing to admit what he had overheard his wife say on the phone, but after a few glasses of Ogden's Reserve Firewhisky, it all came pouring out. Draco told Blaise about how he was a failure as a father and a husband and how he was always afraid that one day Hermione would wake up and leave him for Weasley, decide that she had made the wrong choice after all. He explained that he had been such an idiot; and he just wanted to make things right, but he had no idea where to start. He knew that he was acting beyond pathetic, but Blaise was so easygoing and didn't say a word only nodding his head at the appropriate times while constantly refilling Draco's glass. Once Draco was done ranting, Blaise finally spoke up.

"Listen, Dray, as usual you're making a huge deal out of nothing." Blaise got up from the couch and walked over to a large wooden shelf above his desk. "Mione is not going to leave you for that freckled git. That's just ridiculous. But if you don't stop sulking and whinging about it, then she is going to leave you for someone better. Someone less annoying."

"Hey…that's not fair."

"Shut up, Malfoy. You know, I'm right, but don't worry; I have the solution to your problem."

Draco put his empty glass on the nearby coffee table and frowned at Blaise. "What do you mean, Zabini?"

"I mean," Blaise said, smiling at Draco deviously, "that I have the answer to your problem right here in my hand." He handed Draco a DVD box and Draco stared at the box, his large eyes blank.

"What's this?"

"It's a Muggle film," Blaise said. "You've seen them before. Don't you remember just a couple of weeks ago we watched that film about those Muggle Aurors?"

Draco narrowed his eyes and glared at his friend. "I know what a film is, you twat," he snapped. "I did marry a Muggle-born, after all. And even if we don't own a telly, you seem quite fond enough of them for the both of us. You might even like that telly more than the twins."

Blaise ignored Draco's sharp comment and walked over to his large Muggle flat screen telly. He put a DVD in the player and poured himself and Draco another full glass of firewhisky. "Come on, Dray, just relax. Didn't you notice the title of the DVD? It's _The Nightmare Before Christmas._ I bet it's based on that Muggle story 'Mione said she used to read as a child…you know…the one you just told me about."

Draco sat down on the couch next to Blaise and picked up his glass of firewhisky. After taking a sip he looked at his friend and smirked, "Blaise, that's absolutely brilliant! I can't believe you have that film. I knew there was a reason I kept you around."

Blaise chuckled loudly and almost spat out his drink.

"Of course, mate. I live to serve."

"I still can't believe you have that film. What's it about?"

"I don't know, Dray. I haven't seen it before. It's Parvati's or Padma's I think. One of them said it's like their favourite film of all time."

Draco smirked at his friend lewdly. "You can't tell them apart, can you, Blaise?"

"Nah. But it's not important. Trust me, we don't do a lot of talking."

Draco laughed at his friend and rewarded him with a radiant smile. Then he lifted his glass in a toast as the credits of the film started.

"To the best mate a Slytherin could ask for," Draco said.

"Don't get all maudlin on me now, Dray. You're getting soft in your old age, and I'll never forgive you if my godson doesn't turn out to be a Slytherin."

Draco laughed again and then pinched his friend.

"Touché, Blaise. Don't worry though…that boy is all Malfoy. He's already manipulating me and his mother shamelessly."

Blaise started to say something, but Draco cut him off by pulling on his long dreads. "Shush, it's starting. We can gush about Scorpius later."

The boys refilled their glasses of firewhisky and sat back to enjoy _The Nightmare Before Christmas._

**: : :**

After drinking way too much firewhisky and watching _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ twice, Draco returned home. Although he'd never admit it to anyone, him and Blaise had thoroughly enjoyed the film, so much so that the second time around they were singing along. Draco was glad that by the time he came home Hermione and the children were sound asleep because the last thing he wanted was to explain where he had been and why he was incredibly pissed. Besides, he didn't think he could look Hermione in the eyes and not break down after what he had heard her say. No, now that Draco knew what Hermione wanted he was going to try to fix things between them before it was too late.

Nursing a headache from overindulging in firewhisky, Draco drank a strong headache potion as well as a hangover potion and then started planning. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and Hermione had a couple of meetings she needed to attend, so Draco had all morning and afternoon to put his plan into action. He would send the children over to stay with his mother, and by the time Hermione and the children came home the house would be unrecognisable. With Blaise's help, he was going to recreate _The Nightmare Before Christmas _for Hermione. If it was her favourite story, then he would make sure that she would have a Christmas that she would never forget and the children too.

**: : :**

The next morning, Hermione left early for work and Draco pretended to be asleep, so she wouldn't question him on his plans. The night before, he had told her that he wasn't feeling well, so his mother had volunteered to pick up the children early that morning. That way, he would be able to get some rest and be ready for their holiday celebration when she came back from work.

As soon as Hermione and the children were gone, Draco got out of bed and fire-called Blaise. Blaise was over his house in minutes and they immediately got to work. Although he thought _The Nightmare Before Christmas _was the strangest holiday story he had ever seen or heard, if it was Hermione's favourite, then he would make sure to recreate it for her. Besides, Jack the Pumpkin King was awesome, or at least Draco and Blaise both thought so; therefore, they were going to use all their Slytherin powers to make Draco's house unrecognisable.

They started with the outside of the house. The inside was going to be their own version of Jack's twisted vision of Christmas, but on the outside of the house, they wanted to recreate Halloween Town. Blaise was in charge of the outside because he had a good eye for recreating things from memory. Whenever someone would break a table or one of the chairs in the Slytherin common room, if Draco was in a good mood, he would attempt to repair it, but if it was irreparable, then Blaise would just create a new chair or table that matched the old ones perfectly. He really was quite talented at it, and if he ever decided that he wanted a real job, he could probably get one in interior decorating. Even if Blaise hadn't watched the film with Draco and volunteered to help, he would have begged him to help Draco decorate.

By the time they were finished, the outside of the house looked incredible. It was almost an exact replication of Halloween Town, complete with spooky dancing trees and a stone, green slime filled fountain. In order to give it a little moreSlytherin flair, Blaise decided to also include a series of gravestones that were each decorated with cobwebs and green and purple lights to add more eeriness to his vision.

When Draco stepped outside to see Blaise's final vision, he couldn't have been happier. He made sure that everything was perfect inside as well. Now, all they had to do was wait for Hermione and the children.

**: : :**

Hermione was having a bad day. Even though it was Christmas Eve, her boss had insisted she stay later to take a couple of calls from overseas. It was quite frustrating that no one else in her department was Muggle-born, so they didn't understand the new technology that she had implemented to make overseas relations easier. Of course, she had made sure that the Muggle technology she introduced to the department was as simple and user-friendly as possible, but somehow it still stumped the majority of witches and wizards, especially the older ones. On days like today, Christmas Eve, she regretted that she had so much responsibility in her department; the only thing she wanted to do was go home and spend a quiet evening with her children and husband. She was thrilled that the office would be closed for the next few days, and she would finally get to spend some quality time with her children.

When she finally left the office and picked up her children, she noticed that they were even more hyperactive than usual. Apparently, Narcissa had helped Scorpius and Cassie bake Christmas biscuits, and it was obvious that the children were on a sugar high. Hermione sighed loudly as they walked back to their house and watched the two blonde blurs skipping in front of her. She figured it would be better to walk and let the children waste some of that energy before they got home. Draco had not been feeling well, and she didn't think that he would appreciate being mauled by hyperactive children as soon as they got home. Lately, he had been distant, so Hermione hoped that she would be able to find some alone time to spend with her husband over the hols as well.

It's only a short walk from Narcissa and Andromeda's house, only about 15 minutes, so before she knew it, they were home. When she reached their large house, she was in shock. At first, she thought that they had walked by their home, but upon second glance, she realised that although completely transformed, she was staring at what had only that morning been her charming and tastefully decorated Gregorian style house. Now, it was unrecognisable. There were rows and rows of headstones overtaking the front yard, dancing spooky trees swaying back and forth, as well as a large stone fountain. Everything was illuminated by green and purple lights and it looked like they had just set foot into a Halloween storybook. She wasn't sure if their house had been hit by some sort of curse, so she reached behind her to keep Scorpius and Cassie by her side. It was too late though because Scorpius had already spotted the illuminated fountain and was running towards it.

"Cool! Green Slime! Green Slime!" he shrieked, his slightly wavy blond hair bouncing up and down as he ran. Obviously, Cassie didn't want to be left behind, so she chased after her brother.

"Wait for me, Scorp!" she called, "I want to see the green slime too."

Hermione sighed and ran after the children. She knew it would be pointless to try to stop them. She watched the children explore the Halloween village that had magically sprouted in their front yard, and sighed loudly again. She had quickly cast some spells to make sure that there was no black magic or curses around and everything was clear, but she still had no idea what had happened. She hoped that Draco would have a reasonable explanation for the madness that seemed to take over their house.

"Come on children," she called, "it's time to go inside and see your Father. You can come back out and play later."

"Aww Mum," Scorpius and Cassie complained.

"Later," she insisted and shooed the children inside.

Once she got inside, she realised that whatever spell had backfired outside had also hit the inside of their house. Gone were the tasteful Christmas decorations that Narcissa and Andromeda had put up. Instead, the halls were lined with garland carved out of skulls and as they entered the living room, hundreds of miniature jack-o'-lanterns where floating around the room. Where earlier that morning had stood their tall Christmas pine tree, now stood a tree made of bones and decorated with ornaments shaped like ghosts, ghouls, mummies, and shrunken heads. On top of the tree, however, was a giant gold star.

What the hell had happened?

"Wicked," Scorpius squealed as he ran in the door and saw the floating jack-o'-lanterns and tree made of bones.

"Look mummy, dolls!" Cassie yelled as she held up a shrunken head. Her blonde curls were flying wildly and her brown eyes, so similar to Hermione's own, were twinkling with amusement.

My God, what is wrong with these children?

"That's not a doll, Cassie. Put that back," Hermione snapped. "Now where the hell is your father?"

"There he is," Cassie said, as Draco appeared in the hallway with Blaise at his side. "Daddy! Daddy!" Cassie cried, as she ran over to her father and clung onto his knee. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, pet" Draco said, with large smile as he bent down and kissed Cassie's wild hair.

Blaise stood in the hallway looking as smug as ever and waited until Scorpius ran over and attacked him. It was a little ritual they had. At first, Hermione had been concerned about choosing Blaise as Scorpius' godfather, but he had proved her wrong and was a terrific godfather to Scorpius always—even if he wasn't the best role model.

After Draco finished greeting the children, Hermione walked over to her husband and put her head on his shoulder. She sighed loudly.

"Draco, what is going on here? What happened to all our Christmas decorations?"

Draco kissed her on the forehead gently and smiled again, his dazzling smile that usually made Hermione weak in the knees, but right now was only annoying her further.

"Isn't wonderful?" he said, his voice strangely high-pitched and dreamy. "It's a surprise—my Christmas surprise for you and the children."

Hermione frowned and picked her head off her husband's shoulder.

"I don't understand. How is _this_," she said, motioning to all the bizarre decorations around her, "a Christmas surprise?"

Draco bit his bottom lip and furrowed his forehead.

"I-I…well, isn't _The Nightmare Before_ Christmas your favourite holiday story?"

"Huh?"

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which was uncharacteristically wild today. If Hermione hadn't been so frustrated right now, she would say it looked rather sexy all mussed like that.

"Please don't be angry," he said slowly. "But I overheard you talking with your mother and you mentioned how this was your favourite holiday story and how you missed your holiday traditions. So…I…recreated it for you."

He averted his eyes from Hermione's and looked down at the floor. He had that kicked puppy dog look he always seemed to have when he thought he had made Hermione unhappy. It was always broke her heart, so she never stayed angry with him for too long.

"I thought you and the kids would like it," he continued, "that we could start our own holiday traditions because I don't know very much about Muggle ones."

"Draco—"

"No, I'm sorry, Hermione, I guess it was a dumb idea. I just wanted to give you the best holiday ever. I know you think I don't care, but I really do care about the holidays. I didn't mean—"

"Wait what?" Hermione was confused. She had no idea what Draco was talking about.

"Come on, Granger," Blaise chimed in, still holding Scorpius upside down. "Don't be such a tight arse. We spent the _whole_ day recreating your favourite story. It wasn't easy. _At all." _He put Scorpius down and leaned up against the doorway. "Cut the bloke some slack, okay? We even watched that film three times to make sure that we created everything properly."

Hermione sighed loudly again; she really was doing that a lot today. Finally, it all made sense and she felt like shit. Draco had overheard her conversation with her mother. She had told her mother that she missed their Muggle holiday traditions like reading "The Night Before Christmas".

Oh dear, Draco must have misunderstood her and thought she said _The Nightmare Before Christmas—_that explained all the bizarre and uncanny decorations.

"Draco," she softly, feeling tears forming in her eyes, "you did all of this for me?"

"Yeah," he grumbled. "I just didn't want you to regret—"

"Oh you, silly wonderful man," she cried, and then threw her arms around her husband's neck and kissed him passionately.

"Ooooohhhh" Scorpius and Cassie cried, and then their Uncle Blaise ushered them out of the room.

"Let's give Mummy and Daddy a little privacy, yeah?" he said. "Let's go outside and have a slime fight."

"Yeah!" The kids cheered and ran out of the room. Hermione and Draco were finally alone.

"Draco," Hermione said, as she caught her breath, even after all these years, his kisses still left her gasping and lightheaded. "How much of that conversation did you overhear?"

"Erm," he said, while attempting to hide behind his long fringe, like he always did when he was nervous. "Well, I didn't mean to. It just happened."

"Just tell me."

"Almost all of it," he replied quietly.

"Shite."

"Hermione I'm—"

Hermione leaned in and kissed her overly chatty husband again, ensuring that he was finally quiet.

"No, let me talk," she insisted. "I'm the one that should be sorry. I-I didn't mean what I said, Draco. I was just having a hard day. I-I"

"You don't' regret marrying me?" he snapped, his voice full of pain.

"No, no!" she cried, her voice high and panicked now. "Of course, not. Draco…you and the kids are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I never thought that a girl like me…could wind up with a bloke like you. God, you could have any woman you wanted. And—"

She was in tears now; large tears were streaming down her cheeks as she buried her face in her tall husband's shoulder.

"No, you're the best husband and father a girl could ask for. I love you, okay? And I'm so sorry that I made you doubt it."

"Shhh, don't cry, love," he soothed, as he stroked Hermione's hair and pulled her closer to him, his hard chest warm and comforting. "This is supposed to be a happy day, a traditional Christmas for our little family." He paused for a second and lifted Hermione's chin towards him. "Although I have to say, that Muggle Christmas traditions are really bloody odd."

Hermione wiped her eyes and locked eyes with Draco, his grey eyes clear and serious.

"Oh, Draco," she said while fighting back a chuckle. "I can't believe you did all of this for me. It really is amazing, but it's not a traditional Muggle Christmas. Not at all."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you misunderstood me or most likely Blaise misunderstood me. I said I liked reading 'The Night Before Christmas', not _The Nightmare Before Christmas._"

Draco furrowed his brow and scowled fiercely. Hermione was afraid that he was going to be angry or worst yet disappointed, but instead he just started laughing.

"Bloody hell," he said in between chuckles. "I'm such an idiot. A real fucking idiot."

"Yes, you are, love," Hermione said, as she leaned in closer for another kiss. "But you're my idiot and I adore you Mr Malfoy."

He leaned in and rewarded her with another one of his toe curling, breathtaking kisses.

"And I adore you Mrs Malfoy."

**~Fin**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: <strong>Thanks for reading my holiday drabbles/one shots and let me know if you have any requests or would like to see a New Year's Draco and Hermione fic. Also, comments make my day and if you want me to respond please leave your email in the review.

Cheers!

**~Icicle**


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